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January 7, 2008
Saga of April Calories
Chuck writes:
I'm semi-confused about the saga of April here, why have you increased your calories by more then 20% what we were seeing as daily for the past year and yet you are losing weight? Was the eating out once a week really equivalant to an extra 1500~ calories a week?
Several things:
a) Yes, eating out can do that, and I was eating out more like twice a week most of this year. Hence the "baby weight" from the twin campaigns I ran. I gained up to 115 at one point, then back down to 108ish, then back up to 113... all way above my previous CR weights. I wouldn't really consider what I've been doing most of this year to be CR, more like obesity avoidance under pressure. I've written about that quite a lot, actually, so I'm surprised that you're surprised.
b) I've greatly increased my exercise level from back when I used to be able to hold 102 at around 1400 or so calories a day. I was doing very little exercise then, and carrying very little muscle mass. Nowadays I'm burning 200 - 400 calories a day in exercise, five-ish days a week, and when I have my full Pilates + treadmill + weights muscle mass on, that burns more calories.
c) People who say they eat 1200 a day and yet weigh quite a bit more than I do are most likely mistaken. They're not weighing and measuring, they're not counting little bites here and there, and they're acting like they know what's in restaurant food. They don't. Look at Robin's numbers, or Miss M's. Miss M is much thinner than I am, and she's doing real CR, for years now. She's really a much better role model than I am of proper CR, and a better cook. In fact, I am hoping for an invitation to dinner when I can finally drag myself over to the UK. She spent quite awhile easing into her CR, and now, if I'm not mistaken, eats 1200 - 1500 or so.
d) Part of the year I suspect I've eaten closer to 1700, when I was doing a lot of eating out. Hence all the whining about baby weight, difficulty keeping to even a healthy diet on the road, etc. Whine whine whine. Really, I get sick of myself. Sometimes I'm surprised you all keep showing up, but I do love your company!
e) So when I eat 1500 and exercise, I gradually lose weight. Not too fast, but slowly, happily, and feeling very good.
f) To keep an average of 1600 or so, with eating out once a week or more, I ate a bunch less on regular week-ish days. Hence the sometimes posted lower levels. However, I've tried to avoid the "post only low cal days" phenomenon because I fear it encourages others to set their calorie goals too low. Eat, people, eat! You're all taller than I am! Everyone is taller than I am! It's not a competition to see who can eat the least or get the skinniest.
When I first started CR, I had so much fat to burn off that I could subsist on small numbers of calories for awhile without freaking out. Now that I'm at 113 (this morning... a bit lower a few days ago but salt, water weight, etc...) I can actually go fairly low without much discomfort, but I've learned that consistency really is key to maintaining lower calories over the long term, so I'm sticking closer to 1500 on a daily basis rather than cycling up and down.
I aim to eventually lower my calories, but I don't want to give up my exercise and I want to ease into lower calories so that I don't either a) get hungry in a way that distracts from the other things I'm doing in my life b) lose weight too fast.
In a lot of ways, I'm starting CR all over again. But this time I'm not going from overweight to underweight -- I'm starting out on the low end of normal and headed for CR, not obesity avoidance. Obesity will be avoided, to be sure, but I'm pretty strictly weighing and measuring with an eye to getting my calories, slowly, gradually, as low as I can tolerate. I'm also exercising from the start, which I wish I'd done years ago. If I could have maintained the muscle that I had just to carry my 137 pound body around, while losing the fat... but it's too late now. Best I can do is the best I can do.
The lowest I've ever been was 99 pounds (in my adult life -- this was fall 2005) and I was eating around 1300 then, down to 1200 at times. I was also exercising almost none at the time. Exercise and muscle, I've noted, really makes a difference. I'd be interested in input from those of you who've gone from CR + exercise to CR without, and vice versa. I know I gained back some baby weight when I stopped working out... bound to happen, if you don't cut calories to match. I burn a lot with my workouts, even though they don't seem all that hardcore to me.
Back at Pilates today... ah, the soreness is kicking in. I told Danny he can't make me laugh tomorrow, as it will hurt. It's a good pain though. Pain, as they say, is fear leaving the body.
Posted by april at January 7, 2008 9:57 PM